How to Treat Depression in Children?

Posted by Dr Mitali Soni Loyas on September 9th, 2019

According to the latest researches, it has been found out that Indians are the most depressed people in the country. Research over the past 30 years shows that now the children are now facing depressive states. It won’t be same as the adults. Another important fact that was highlighted during the research was that the adult depression was linked with their experiences from the childhood. Now to sum up all this we would understand that if we identified depression in children, then we would be treating depression of our upcoming youth.

What are the types of depression found in children?

Depression does occur in the children but there are different clinical forms of the depression. Those are as follows:

•          Anaclitic Depression: This type of depression is generally observed in infants. This is a severe and progressive depression which arises when a child loses their mother and he is unable to find a suitable substitute of this.
•          Masked Depression: This type of depression is also referred by ‘Depressive Equivalents’. Masked depression includes behavioral and conduct problems such as irritability, aggressiveness & hyperactivity. Somatic problems are also complained during this stage that includes stomach ache, headache and enuresis. School performance of the child also gets lowered and children develop some of the phobias during this time.
•          Typical Depression: The typical depressive syndrome can be classified into (i) acute depression that develops from disturbed characteristics of an adult suffering from depression. This also means feeling hopelessness, social eating disturbances and other depressive symptoms. (ii) Chronic depression happens with the poor adjustment before the onset of the disorder.

What are the reasons of depression in children?

•          When a child faces rejection from their loved ones and sees conflict between their parents.
•          When a child experiences no expression of love and appreciation from their parents.
•          When a child notices stressful life events such as family disruption and bereavement.
•          When a child is maltreated that includes physical and sexual abuse.
•          When a child develops insecure attachment and poor emotional relation with someone.

What are the treatment and therapies for treating children with depression?

•          IPT or Interpersonal Therapy
•          Behavioral therapy
•          CBT or Cognitive behavioral therapy
•          Social skills training
•          Group therapy

Childhood depression is a recurrent disorder with should be treated with the help of psychiatrist in Bhopal. It is important to consult a psychiatrist for drug therapy in selected cases.